Free safety check at a garage costs a grand
A few months ago I was sent a letter from Martins of Camberley who are the main dealer for VW in the area, offering a "free" safety check for my car which I have had serviced there before.
Little did I know that not only was I going to get the car back in a different condition, but I would also be presented with a quote for nearly £1000 for repairs that were unnecessary. Interesting thing was, when I took the car to another mechanic I was told different story.
First of all, the plastic cover, which is located under the oil sump, was screwed on with just one screw and fell off on the motorway. When I told Martins about it they told me that the car probably only had one screw.
If that were the case surely it would have been brought up in the free safety check. They wanted to charge me £30 for a new set of screws and that excluded the labour costs. Secondly, the electronic central locking on my second key was not functioning. They suggested I pay £150 to get a new one.
My other mechanic told me that if I kept the functioning key in my pocket to mobilise the car and use the non-functioning one in the ignition the key would charge up and be functional again. It works fine now and I didn’t spend a penny. The staff at Martins are all con artists in my opinion.
Finally, I was told that unless I did some major repairs to the CV joints the car would not pass its MOT. It past first time and the steering not only works perfectly but also was never even questioned by the inspector.
Needless to say I will not be going back to Martins VW in Camberley due to the poor service and dishonest customer staff. Who ever is in charge of CRM in this organisation needs to sort out their act.
By: Wingman
Comments from visitors
Do not trust ABRIDGE ENGINEERING VW with servicing.
js componants - 29-Dec-10 21:59
oil cost them less than a pound and an oil filter is around the £2.00 mark the amount they buy
so in essence you are paying £119.00 for an oil and filter change which kwik fit will do im sure for under £30.00 a tidy little profit for volkwagen no wonder they can afford to advertise it nationally what a rip off avoid main dealers for servcing at all costs find an independent garage or a national chain like kwik fit who will service totally for way less than what volkswagen are charging
The son in law had to buy it as he needed a car for work, and he told me he could resell it if it didn't work out. Well guess what? it used a sump full of engine oil in less than a week, and had a cold start problem. Of course the 3 coil springs needed replacement along with some impact damage which made the car steer to the left by itself. When he decided to sell it I told my son in law to tell the potential customers exactly all the faults and the low asking price would compensate the buyer. The vehicle was sold, I asked said son in law did you tel the new owner of the faults, he said that the new owner said it was great and drove really well. It was a local VW DEALER MECHANIC who bought the car!!!!!!!!
Babbaloveshine - 23-Aug-10 21:43
Took the VW in to Martins for a free check up
Ended up with estimates for £600 plus
Nothing more than a sales tool to bring in more Revenue to Martins
VW should audit their service centres and stop this
Who do you think is reliable for vw servicing in Camberley?
Gill Stanley - 14-Jun-10 12:37
I have had Wayside in Towcester and Leicester VW try and charge me for parts covered by the waranty. My 2005 GT TDI mk5 Golf is constantly going wrong.
Take all issues up with VW customer services because the stealers are all cowboys and simply don't care.
Also before taking your car in for repairs ring the waranty company directly to check a component is covered.
I would also reccomend getting an independant diagnosis before taking your car anywhere near a VW dealer for £45 you can avoid being raped.
We had a friendly mechanic look at it for us and said there was nothing wrong with the car.
Three months on; we have just had it put through an MOT and it passed with flying colours. Even asked the Engineer afterwards regarding the CV joints that highlighted by Martins VW and he has since told us a few 'horror' stories about them.
We never learnt our lesson as many years ago we had a VW MOT'd at Martins of Camaberley (previously Whites VW) passed our car with two large nails from a black smiths shop. We had a puncture shortly after leaving the garage on the way home.
We complained at the time and they gave us two free new tyres at their expense.
As you can see, we gave them another chance, but clearly they have not changed. That will be the last time we go there.
Service reception staff had an arrogant and dismissive attitude. Could even smile while they were robbing you.
Avoid them at all costs.
They taped up a hole in my exhaust, sprayed it silver and charged me for a new part plus labour.
Do yourself a favour and drive past and find a reputable garage with decent staff.
Cowboys - I'd avoid at all costs!
Fuming Goose - 16-Feb-09 20:14





